Läänemaa

Who holds it

Name

None named for 1200

Title

The elders of the coastal parishes and hillforts

Since

not applicable

Born

not applicable

Family

No ruling family; no elder named for these years.

Confidence

low

Henry of Livonia as reported in en.wikipedia (Oeselians, Livonian Crusade).

Overlord

None. No tribute is known.

What it holds

• Lihula (Leal), hillfort (Lihula)
• Soontagana (Sontagana), bog fort (Soontagana)
• Hiiumaa (Dagö) and Vormsi
• The coast from Noarootsi to the Pärnu river, with Kihnu

How things stand that morning

Free and pagan.

Wealth

Grain and cattle on the coastal plain, fishing and sealing, trade across the straits and to Gotland.

Military

Parish levies and hillforts; ships along the coast. No numbers.

Threats

• Danes and Swedes by sea (a Swedish army takes Lihula in 1220 and is destroyed there by the Oeselians: later)
• The Germans of Riga from 1211 (later)

Parishes

Not listed for 1200. The parishes of the later bishopric of Ösel-Wiek grew from Maritima and Rotalia; their 1200 forms are not pinned.

Hillforts

Lihula (Lihula) and Soontagana (Soontagana); others not pinned.

Assembly

None named.

Neighbours

Rävala and Harjumaa to the north-east, Alempois to the east, Sakala to the south-east beyond the Pärnu river, Saaremaa and Muhu across the straits.

Law and courts

No written law; elders of parishes and hillfort districts decide, with the assembled free men.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. During 1200 (nothing dated)No event in this land is recorded for 1200.Depends on: not applicable Stopped by: not applicable

Later, on the likely course

1. 1211 (after this year)Theodoric is consecrated bishop of the Estonians with his seat named at Lihula.Depends on: The German advance from Riga Stopped by: not applicable
2. 1220 (after this year)A Swedish army under King John I and Bishop Karl of Linköping takes Lihula; the Oeselians storm it and kill the garrison.Depends on: Swedish crusading plans Stopped by: not applicable

Places of note

• Lihula: Hillfort (Leal).
• Soontagana: Bog fort; position approximate.
• Hiiumaa: The island of Hiiumaa (Dagö).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Known from Henry of Livonia's account of the 1210s and 1220s; nothing is recorded for 1200.

On the map: The inland line against Harjumaa and Alempois is a reconstruction; Hiiumaa may have been tied as much to Saaremaa as to the mainland.

Primary sources for The Estonians

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
• The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
• The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• Charter book of Livonia, Estonia and Courland, volume 1, 1093 to 1300 (documents of 1093 to 1300, edited 1853). The documents of the Livonian mission: Innocent III's bull of 5 October 1199 calling for a crusade to protect the Livonian church, the privileges for Bishop Albert, Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen's acts for the see of Üxküll, and the later charters that settle who held what on the Düna.
• The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online